textproduct: Quad Cities

KEY MESSAGES

- The weather pattern will remain fairly active this week as northwest flow aloft develops. A warming trend will be seen the first half of the week followed by a cooling trend.

- There remains considerable uncertainty regarding track and potential impacts around a clipper system during the Thursday into Friday time frame.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 248 AM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Northwest flow aloft with a series of waves moving through the flow is expected to drive the weather in the short term. Even though we have NW flow aloft, we actually have WAA, as warmer air to the north and west of us moves into the area. A weak wave is moving through the flow now, leading to some high clouds. These clouds will move south of the area this afternoon leading to more filtered sun. A second, stronger wave is expected to move into the area this evening and into the overnight. The better vorticity advection will be to the east of the area. This wave will bring clouds to the area tonight. Even though we have WAA, we actually have drier air moving into the area so both these waves are expected to move through the area without producing any precipitation. Temperatures today are expected to be above average with highs in the 40s.

LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 248 AM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Active pattern continues through the period with active northwest flow. The clipper train continues through the rest of the long term period. Each of these clippers will bring more clouds to the area along with some increased winds. Later in the period, after colder air dumps into the area, these clippers will bring precipitation back to the area.

Looking to Tuesday into Wednesday, two cold fronts are expected to move through the area. The first one is rather weak and will lead to a temporary cool down. The front on Wednesday looks much stronger. H85 temps of -15 to -18C are expected with this cold dump as a 1035 hPa high drops into the area. Winds will be strong with this system. We will likely need to keep an eye on these winds as we could easily see gusts 35 to 40 mph. Temperatures after this return to more average for this time of year.

The system at the end of the week is the best chance for us to see some precipitation across the area. The overall pattern between the spectral models shows good agreement in vorticity fields as two main waves move into the area. They disagree on timing and the exact location of the waves. As a result, confidence on timing/location of precipitation remains low. Thermal profiles support snow with these systems. Overall, QPF looks light so not expecting a really impactful system, however, we could see some snow on the ground.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 449 AM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Winds will remain near 10kts through the period as gusts return later towards daybreak tomorrow. Otherwise, VFR conditions are expected through the period.

DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.